Page 148 of Enchanted Heir
Back safely in Krew’s wing, I felt a wave of nausea roll through me after everything that had just happened. I understood now the king had been reeling after Krew had gotten shot. While in the infirmary he had barely even been able to look at him. But by that point he had already decided who he could blame instead of himself.
He’d whipped us. Like we were not worth the air it took to fill our lungs.
What a twisted form of love the king had. It was clear to me now that he still cared about Krew, no matter if Krew had tried to kill him or not, but that his worry and rage over the attack had translated into an immediate need to beat someone.
I slammed my eyes shut thinking of the sound of the whip as it tore into Owen’s flesh and then ran to the bathroom to empty the contents of my stomach. This was a nightmare I wasn’t sure I would ever outrun. Today would be a shadow that would always follow me, no matter how bright the sun.
I had just flushed the toilet when I felt my hair being lifted away from my face gently. “Sorry, Owen,” I apologized.
“It’s me, sweetheart,” Keir said softly. “Sorry, Owen is moving a bit slower.”
I wiped at my mouth and moved to sit on the cool floor. I wanted to press my cheek against it and just let this day end already.
Keir was still holding onto my hair for me. “Puke all you want. It doesn’t bother me.”
I smirked. “I’m good now, thanks.”
He let go of my hair only to move to grab me a damp washcloth. He held the cool washcloth to my forehead gently before placing it in my hand.
I took it from him and whispered, “Thank you, Keir. For getting us out of there.”
“That’s why I hadn’t gone to see Krew yet,” Keir admitted, “Why I wasn’t at the wall. I was waiting for him to do something callous like this. I just thought it would’ve been in the mountain and not the throne room. I was hiding out in the wrong area, or I’d have stopped it sooner.”
I let out a long sigh. “Don’t beat yourself up about it, Keir. It wasn’t your fault.”
His sigh told me he believed otherwise. “Silvia should be here any moment.”
I nodded. “Okay. Let’s go get Owen cleaned up then.” I moved to stand, but Keir was there, helping to steady me as I stood.
I finished with the washcloth and then grabbed another for Owen’s back.
Back in Krew’s room, I moved the big footrest for the chair in front of the fireplace, shoving it with my legs rather than using my already tender shoulder. “Sit,” I demanded Owen. “Sit, please.”
Owen groaned.
“You know you have to get your shirt out of the wounds,” Keir added.
Seeing how tenderly Owen was moving in trying to get his shirt off, I held up a finger and went after some scissors. He’d just taken lashings for me; he didn’t have to go through any other unnecessary pain.
I made quick work of cutting the shirt off him and then got to work cleaning his wounds.
While I was applying pressure to the area that was bleeding, Silvia arrived, tears in her eyes and looking pale, and then promptly called for some more supplies.
Keir left for only a moment before returning to help us.
I was itching to get back down to Krew, but Owen’s injuries were more important right now. Hopefully Krew slept through all of this.
Other than an area where his skin had split open, most of Owen’s wounds were red and pink lines overlapping across his back. The line that had bled was obviously the worst, the length of that spot running about as long as my hand, and it was going to take the longest to heal.
“Can I ask for the names of the men killed or caught in Nerede?” I asked on a sigh. “Or do I even want to know?”
Keir looked me in the eyes as he rattled off all four names. The two caught I knew of, but not personally. The third name I didn’t know at all. But the last name I did. Jeremy Arquise. Ivy’s husband. Ivy who had been married all of a few months and seemed so happy yet was now somehow a widow.
But wasn’t I staring down the same exact fate? “Not Jeremy,” I groaned.
Keir added, “I can’t wait to get all the information from Krew. On who was violent just for violence’s sake and who listened to him. We really only know a small portion of the story from the Enchanted at the wall that came as backup.” He paused. “And I only know as much as I do because I grabbed one of the men who my father had report to him and made him repeat everything to me. The others could have said more, I’m not sure.”
“And the men in the mountain?” I asked.
